Zelestra has started full commercial operations at its 50.4 MWdc José Cabrera solar plant in Guadalajara, Spain. The project, delivered by Zelestra’s in-house engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) division, was completed and connected within 12 months, ahead of schedule.
The solar plant was developed in partnership with Graphic Packaging under a long-term virtual power purchase agreement (vPPA). The agreement is part of a broader initiative that will see over 100 MWdc of new solar capacity constructed in Spain this year. The José Cabrera project is expected to generate 83 GWh annually, enough to supply electricity equivalent to 24,000 homes, and reduce carbon emissions by approximately 11,500 tons per year.
Luis Alvargonzalez, Zelestra’s country manager in Spain, said: “We are proud to have delivered this significant project ahead of time and under budget, to guarantee the delivery of clean energy for Graphic Packaging to help them meet their decarbonization targets. In the development phase we worked closely with a wide range of local stakeholders and community groups to plan our activities carefully and our EPC team then drew on their wide experience to bring this project to life in record time.”
The construction phase of the project created more than 200 jobs. Zelestra’s Spanish portfolio now exceeds 6 GW, including over 1 GW of projects that are contracted, under construction, or operational. The company was recently ranked among the top 10 global sellers of clean energy to corporate customers by BloombergNEF and second in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
